Manufacture of gloves, such as surgical gloves, from latex

ABSTRACT

A method of producing a glove, such as a surgical glove, having relatively thin wall thickness in the finger and palm portions and a relatively thick wall thickness in the cuff portion, comprising the steps of locating a hand-shaped former with the fingers disposed upwardly; applying concentrated coagulant to the cuff portion of the former while the former is so disposed; inverting the former; applying dilute coagulant to the hand portion of the former while the former is inverted with the fingers disposed downwardly; and applying latex to the entire glove-forming portion of the former. Preferably, the concentrated coagulant is applied by directing at least one stream of concentrated coagulant against the cuff portion of the former with the fingers disposed upwardly, the dilute coagulant and the latex being applied by dipping operations with the fingers disposed downwardly.

Elite States Patent Sidley Jan. 7, 1975 [75] Inventor: Henry Sidley,Johannesburg,

Transvaal, South Africa [73] Assignee: Vulco-Sidley Machine Company(Proprietary) Limited, Industria West Johannesburg Transvaal, SouthAfrica [22] Filed: Dec. 22, 1969 [21] Appl. No.: 887,225

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 23, 1968 South Africa68/8448 [52] US. Cl. 264/303, 264/306 [51] Int. Cl A4ld 19/04 [58] Fieldof Search 264/306, 302,- 307, 303

[56] I References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,789,933 4/1957 Bargmeyer 264/309 2,806,257 9/1957 Rosenberg 264/307 3,013,302 12/1961Croxton.....' 264/303 3,397,265 8/1968 Ansell 264/306 PrimaryExaminer-Donald J. Arnold Assistant Examiner-J. R. Hall Attorney, Agent,or FirmWaters, Roditi, Schwartz & Nissen [5 7] ABSTRACT A method ofproducing a glove, such as a surgical glove, having relatively thin wallthickness in the tinger and palm portions and a relatively thick wallthickness in the cuff portion, comprising the steps of locating ahand-shaped former with the fingers disposed upwardly; applyingconcentrated coagulant to the cuff portion of the former while theformer is so disposed; inverting the former; applying dilute coagulantto the hand portion of the former while the former is inverted with thefingers disposed downwardly; and applying latex to the entireglove-forming portion of the former. Preferably, the concentratedcoagulant is applied by directing at least one stream of concentratedcoagulant against the cuff portion of the former with the fingersdisposed upwardly, the dilute coagulant and the latex being applied bydipping operations with the fingers disposed downwardly.

6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures MANUFACTURE OF GLOVES, SUCH AS SURGICALGLOVES, FROM LATEX This invention relates to the manufacture ofthinwalled articles, particularly gloves, such as surgical gloves, fromlatex. For the purposes of this specification, the term latex is used tosignify natural rubber latex or an aqueous dispersion of a syntheticrubber or rubber-like material, such as Neoprene latex.

For the preservation of sensitivity for the wearer, the walls of thefingers and palm portions of a surgical glove should be as thin aspossible consistent with adequate strength. Furthermore, the wall of thecuff portion should be relatively thick for strength in putting on andfor gripping the wearers gown. Preferably, the wall of the palm portionof the glove should be thinner than that of the finger portions in orderto minimise hand fatique.

It is known to make a surgical glove by dipping a hand-shaped formercoated with coagulant into a bath of liquid latex with the fingersdisposed downwardly. This method suffers from the disadvantage thatsince the fingers enter the latex first and are removed last, thefingers of the resultant glove are thicker than the cuff to give aninversion of the required characteristics.

Because of the thin cuff produced by the above method, it is commonpractice to provide the cuff with a beaded edge formed by rolling therubber upon itself at a suitable stage of manufacture. The formation ofthe bead suffers from the disadvantage that an additional manufacturingoperation is required, Furthermore, the bead has a tendency toroll-downwards during use.

In an effort to overcome the above disadvantages, it has been suggestedin U.S. Pat. No. 3,013,302 to dip a former with the fingers disposeddownwardly in a coagulant bath, inverting the former and dipping thecoagulant coated former into the latex with the fingers disposedupwardly. This method produces a glove with relatively thin fingers anda relatively thick cuff, but suffers from the disadvantages that:

a. The carrier means for the former is connected to the cuff portion ofthe former and enters the latex bath. A part of the carrier means iscoated with coagulant and picks up latex when it enters the bath.Furthermore, the carrier part to which the cuff end of the former isattached is not coated with coagulant but nevertheless picks up aconsiderable quantity of uncoagulated latex due to its relatively largearea. This is messy and results in a considerable wastage of relativelyexpensive latex.

b. It has been found that as the upwardly facing tips of the fingers ofthe former are submerged in the latex bath, there is a tendency for anair bubble ,to be trapped at each finger tip and to become embedded inthe resulting glove. Such trapped bubbles not only impair the strengthof the glove at the finger tips, but also increase inspection costs.

It has also been suggested in British Patent specification No. 1,021,137to immerse a hand-shaped former with the fingers downwards in a bath ofconcentrated coagulant up to the required length of the glove. Afterremoval from the concentrated coagulant, the former is immersed fingersdownwards into a bath of water or other coagulant solvent up to theregion of the junction between the cuff and hand portions of the former,thereby to remove the concentrated coagulant from the hand portion.Thereafter, the former is immersed fingers downwards in a bath of dilutecoagulant up to the junction between the cuff and hand portions of theformer. After removal from the dilute coagulant the former is immersedfingers downwards into a bath of latex up to the required length of theglove.

As an alternative to the removal of concentrated coagulant from the handportion of the former by immersion in a solvent, it has been suggestedto dilute the concentrated coagulant on the hand portion by immersingthe former fingers downwards into a bath of suitably dilute coagulant upto the region of the junction between the cuff and hand portions of theformer.

These methods avoid or minimise at least certain of the abovedisadvantages and produce a glove in which the fingers and palm have athinner wall thickness than the cuff. However, these methods suffer fromthe following disadvantages:

a. It involves a considerable number of separate dipping stages whichnot only increase production costs, but also increases the chances ofthe end product being marred or damaged.

b. The removal with a solvent of concentrated coagulant from the majorportion of the former is wasteful.

c. Dilution of concentrated coagulant on the hand portion of the formerby immersion into a bath of dilute coagulant, has been found to producean uneven coating of dilute coagulant, thereby producing a glove with ahand portion of uneven thick ness. It also results in an increase in theconcentration of the dilute coagulant and control of the concentrationof the dilute coagulant bath is, therefore required.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improvedmethod of producing thin-walled articles having wall sections ofdifferent thickness, from latex. More particularly, it is an object ofthe present invention to provide a new and improved method of producinggloves, especially surgical gloves, with which the above disadvantagesare avoided or at least minimised.

According to the invention in its widest aspect, a method of producing athin-walled article having wall sections of different thicknesscomprises the steps of locating a former with a first zone thereofdisposed below a second zone thereof; applying concentrated coagulant tothe first zone of the former while the former is so located; invertingthe former; applying dilute coagulant to the second zone of the formerwhile the former is inverted with the second zone disposed below thefirst zone; and applying latex to the coagulant coated area of theformer.

The concentrated coagulant may be applied to the first zone by directingat least one stream of concentrated coagulant against the first zone andthe dilute coagulant may be applied to the second zone by immersing thesecond zone in a bath of dilute coagulant.

More particularly, according to the invention a method of producing aglove comprises the steps of lo eating a hand-shaped former with thefingers disposed upwardly; applying concentrated coagulant to the cuffportion of the former while the former is so disposed; inverting theformer; applying dilute coagulant to the hand portion of the formerwhile the former is inverted with the fingers disposed downwardly; andapplying latex to the entire glove forming portion of the former.

' agulant.

It will be appreciated that the terms concentrated coagulant and dilutecoagulant are used in a relative sense in this specification to indicatethat the one coagulant is more concentrated than the other. The absoluteconcentrations of the coagulant may be selected to suit particularcircumstances, as will be clear to a man skilled in the art. Anysuitable coagulant may be used.

For the application of the concentrated coagulant, the former may bedisposed substantially vertically or at a suitable angle to thevertical, provided the fingers are disposed upwardly relative to thecuff portion to avoid running down of concentrated coagulant onto thehand portion of the former.

The concentrated coagulant may be applied by directing at least onestream of concentrated coagulant against the cuff portion of the former.Preferably, streams of concentrated coagulant are directed againstopposite sides of the cuff portion.

The former may be rotated while the concentrated coagulant is beingapplied to it;

It has been found that where the concentrated coagulant is applied bysuitably directing one or more streams of concentrated coagulant againstthe cuff portion of the former, a concentrated coagulant coating with arelatively straight edge can be obtained, even if the former is heldstationary during the application of the coagulant, particularly if thecuff portion is circular in cross section. A straighter edge can beobtained by rotating the former duringcoagulant application.

In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of formers are located in a rowwith their fingers disposed upwardly in a position between and adjacentthe ends of a pair of laterally spaced coagulant conduits; the row offormers and the conduits are moved relatively in a longitudinaldirection with respect to the row of formers; and streams ofconcentrated coagulant are discharged through outlet nozzles in theconduits from opposite sides onto the cuff portions of successiveformers from one end of the row to the other.

Preferably the pair of coagulant conduits are moved along the row offormers from one end of the row to the other and back again; and thestreams of concentrated coagulant are discharged from the outlet nozzlesin the conduits onto the cuff portions of successive formers during toand fro movement of the outlet nozzles past the formers.

The concentrated coagulant may be allowed to dry partially or completelybefore the former is inverted, so that running down of concentratedcoagulant onto the hand portion may be avoided or at least minimised.

The dilute coagulant may be applied to the hand portion of the or eachformer by immersing the former fingers downwards in a bath of dilutecoagulant up to or just beyond the edge of the concentrated coagulantcoating on the cuff portion. I

The dilute coagulant may be allowed to dry partially or completelybefore the latex is applied.

Latex may be applied by immersing the or each former fingers downwardsin a bath of latex up to the required length of the glove.

The latex coating may be subjected to any required after treatment, suchas leaching, drying, vulcanising and stripping from the former, as willbe clear to a man skilled in the art.

The invention includes within its scope a glove made in accordance withthe novel method defined above.

According to another aspect of the invention glove producing apparatussuitable for carrying out the above method includes at least onehand-shaped former movable from a first station to a second station androtatable between an upright position in which the fingers of the formerare disposed upwardly and an inverted position in which the fingers aredisposed downwardly; control means operative to locate the former inupright position at the first station and in inverted position at thesecond station; applicator means at the first station operative todirect at least one stream of concentrated coagulant against the cuffportion of the former when the latter is in upright position; and meansat the second station operative to immerse the hand portion of theformer in a bath of dilute coagulant when the former is in invertedposition.

A plurality of formers may be mounted in a row on a carrier with theircuff portions secured to the carrier. the applicator means at the firststation comprising a pair of laterally spaced coagulant supply conduitswhich are movable to and fro along the row of formers on opposite sidesthereof when the formers are in upright position at the first station,and outlet nozzles in the conduits which face and move past the cuffportions of successive formers during to and fro movement of theconduits.

For a clear understanding of the invention a preferred embodiment willnow be described by way of example with reference to the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation with parts omitted for the sakeof clarity, of apparatus suitable for carrying out the method accordingto the invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view to an enlarged scale, of aglove former carrier unit of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of a glove former in uprightposition with the fingers disposed upwardly for the application ofconcentrated coagulant to the cuff portion of the former.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of the glove former of FIG. 3 ininverted position with the fingers disposed downwardly and immersed in abath of dilute coagulant for the application of dilute coagulant to thehand portion of the former.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic representation of the glove former of FIGS. 3and 4 in inverted position with the fingers disposed downwardly andimmersed in a bath of latex for the application of latex to the entiregloveforming portion of the former.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a glove produced in accordance with theinvention, on its former.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the apparatus includes a conveyor systemcomprising a pair of parallel, continuous roller conveyor chains 1, eachof which runs around a pair spaced apart chain sprockets (not shown) andis supported between the sprockets by a rail 2. At one end of the pathof travel of conveyor chains 1, the corresponding'sprockets are mountedon a common shaft which is adapted to be rotatably driven to drive theconveyor chains 1. Conveyor chains 1 carry between them a plurality oflongitudinally spaced glove former carrier units 3.

Each carrier unit 3 comprises a pair of aluminium bearers 4 on each ofwhich a plurality of hand-shaped glove formers 5 are mounted in a rowwith the cuff portions of the formers secured to the bearer 4. Each pairof bearers 4 are secured at opposite ends to a pair of spaced brackets 6which are fast with a tubular crossmember 7 rotatably embracing a shaft8 of circular cross-sectional configuration which is rigidly attached atopposite ends to the lower ends of brackets 9, which in turn, are boltedat their upper ends to conveyor chains 1. It will be appreciated thateach shaft 8 is lo cated transversely between chains 1 and are carriedforward by chains 1 during longitudinal movement thereof. As shaft 8moves forward, it carries the crossmember 7, bearers 4 and formers 5 ofits carrier unit 3 with it. Brackets 9 are located in close proximity tothe inner edges of support rails 2 and locate roller chains 1 on rails2.

Each carrier unit 3 is movable with conveyor chains 1 from a first mainstation A through second main station B to a third main station C. Eachcarrier unit 3 is further rotatable about its shaft 8 between an uprightposition in which the fingers of formers 5 are disposed upwardly and aninverted position in which the fingers of formers 5 are disposeddownwardly.

Control means which will be described in greater detail below, isprovided to locate each carrier unit 3 in upright position at firststation A and in inverted position at each of the second and thirdstations B,C as shown in FIG. 1.

The control means includes a pair of guide rollers 10 on the tubularcross-member 7 of each carrier unit 3. As can be seen from FIG. 2, asupport member 11 is fast with one end of tubular cross-member 7 androtatably mounts guide rollers 10 in spaced relationship longitudinallyalong conveyor chains 1. The axes of rotation of guide rollers 10 lie inthe same horizontal plane containing the axis of rotation ofcross-member 7.

7 Guide rollers 10 engage guide rail 12 and prevent rotation of carrierunit 3 about its shaft 8, thereby to hold the formers in uprightposition at station A and during travel for a predetermined distancefrom station A towards station B.

The control means further includes a gear sprocket 13 fast with thetubular cross-member 7 of each carrier unit 3 on the end opposite toguide rollers 10. During forward movement of carrier units 3 with chainconveyors l, the sprockets 13 on the tubular crossmembers 7 of thevarious carrier units 3 engage suitably located stationary racks 14along the path of travel of the sprockets 13. The racks 14 are of alength just sufficient to rotate the carrier units through 180.

Guide rail 12 is cut away in suitably located zones 15 along its lengthso that as the sprocket 13 of a carrier unit 3 engages a rack 14, theleading guide roller 10 moves downwardly through the cut-away zone 15 toallow rotation of the carrier unit 3 about its shaft 8 due to theengagement between sprocket 13 and the rack 14. Each cut-away zone 15 inguide rail 12 is of such a length that the guide roller 10 which is inleading position at that stage engages the upper surface of guide rail12 on the far side of the cut-away zone 15, just as the sprocket 13moves clear of the rack 14. The trailing guide roller 10, then runs ontothe upper surface of guide rail 12 as conveyor chains 1 continue theirforward movement. It will be appreciated that when both guide rollers 10engage guide rail 12 again, they retain the carrier unit 3 againstrotation about shaft 8 until the next rack 14 and cut-away zone 15 inguide rail 12 are reached. By suitably locating a plurality of racks l4and cut-away zones 15 along conveyor chains 1, each car rier unit 3 canbe located in upright or inverted position as required at variouspositions along the path of conveyor chains 1.

At station A, a pair of laterally spaced coagulant supply conduits 16are provided for each row of formers 5. As can be seen in FIG. 2, thetwo pairs of coagulant supply conduits are mounted on a carriage 17which is adapted to be actuated pneumatically for reciprocating movementtransversely to conveyor chains 1 so that each pair of supply conduits16'are movable to and fro along its row of formers 5 on opposite sidesthereof from one end of the row to the other and back again, when theformers are in upright position at station A. Conduits 16 have outletnozzles 16a at their ends which face and move past the cuff portions 5aof successive formers 5 during to and fro movement of the conduits 16,thereby to direct streams of concentrated coagulant against the cuffportions 5a of the formers 5 from opposite sides thereof, thus ensuringthat the cuff portion 5a of each former is adequately coated withconcentrated coagulant.

A stationary tank 18 for concentrated coagulant is suitably located atstation A in a position underneath formers 5 to which concentratedcoagulant is being applied, to catch concentrated coagulant droppingdown from formers 5. Concentrated coagulant may be circulated from tank18 to supply conduits 16.

At station b, a tank 19 containing a bath of dilute coagulant issuitably located and is mounted on hydraulic lifting device 20 which isarranged to raise the tank to a suitable height for a suitable period oftime to immerse the hand portions 5b of the formers 5 of a carrier unit3 at station 8 in dilute coagulant.

At station C, a tank 21 containing a bath of latex is suitably locatedand is mounted on a hydraulic lifting device 22 which is arranged toraise the tank to a suitable height for a suitable period of time toimmerse the entire glove forming portions of the formers 5 of a carrierunit 3 at station C in latex.

Additional stations, such as for drying, leaching and other operations,may be provided in suitable positions relative to stations A, B and C.For example, drying stations may be provided between stations A and Band between stations B and C, if required. Drying and leaching stationsmay be provided after station C. The conveyor system may pass through adrying and vulcanising tunnel (not shown) along its upper run.

The operation of the apparatus may be controlled in any suitable manner.Thus the apparatus may be arranged so that at the end of an operatingcycle, completed and vulcanised gloves are stripped off the formers of acarrier unit located at a stripping station. After stripping of thegloves, movement of the conveyor system is initiated by the operator.The conveyor system then stops automatically in successive positions sothat the various carrier units along the conveyor chains 1 are suitablylocated relative to equipment at the various treatment stations, such asthe concentrated coagulant supply conduits 16 at station A, the dilutecoagulant tank 19 at station B and the latex tank 21 at station C. Thecarrier units are equally spaced along conveyor chains 1 and the variousstations are spaced apart at distances which are equal to or multiplesof the pitch between adjacent carrier units 3 so that the carrier unitsare accurately located for successive operations along the path oftravel of conveyor chains 1.

Movable dipping tanks, such as dilute coagulant tank 19, at station Band latex tank 21 at station C, may be arranged to rise automatically bymeans of hydraulic lifting devices, such as 20 and 22, as soon as theconveyor system stops. The time of dwell of the dipping tanks at the topof their strokes, which is preferably variable so that the requireddipping levels may be achieved, may be controlled by electrical timers.By suitable electrical and/or pneumatic interlocking, the conveyorsystem may be controlled so that it cannot move forward until all thedipping tanks and other equipment are in their retracted, inoperativepositions.

During operation of the apparatus, the formers S of each carrier unit 3,pass successively from station A through station B to station C. Atstation A, formers 5 are located in upright position with the fingersdisposed upwardly and streams of concentrated coagulant are directedagainst the cuff portion 5a of each former 5 through the outlet nozzles16a of supply conduits 16. As shown in FIG. 3, a concentrated coagulantcoating with a relatively straight edge 23 is obtained. The intensity ofthe streams of concentrated coagulant may be controlled by a valve .ineach conduit 16 in order to achieve as straight an edge 23 as possible.

Since the formers 5 are located with their fingers disposed upwardly,concentrated coagulant cannot run down on to the hand portions 5b of theformers during application of the concentrated coagulant.

'A certain amount of concentrated coagulant does run down on to bearers4, cross-member 7 and other associated parts and adhere thereto. Thisdoes not, however, present a problem since each carrier unit 3 isre-used repeatedly and each time concentrated coagulant is applied toparts of the carrier unit 3, coagulant adhering thereto is dissolved andwashed off the carrier unit parts. Screens (Not shown) may be providedto protect adjacent parts,such' as sprockets 13 and guide rollers 10.concentrated coagulant which flows off the carrier unit 3 and/or iswashed off the carrier unit 3, drops into tank 18 and is recovered. Aminimum of wastage occurs.

At station B dilute coagulant is applied to the hand portion 5b of eachformer 5 of a carrier unit 3 by immersing each former fingers downwardsin a bath of dilute coagulant 24 in tank 19 to a position just beyondthe edge 23 of the concentrated coagulant coating on cuff portion 5a, asshown in FIG. 4.

At station C, latex is applied to the entire gloveforming portion ofeach former 5 of a carrier unit 3 by immersing each former fingersdownwards in a bath of latex 25 in tank 22 up to the required length ofa glove, as shown in FIG. 5.

With the method of the invention, a thicker layer of latex coagulates onthe cuff portion 5a of each former 5 which is coated with concentratedcoagulant, than on the hand portion 5b which is coated with dilutecoagulant, as can be seen from FIG. 6.

It has been found that where concentrated and dilute coagulant and latexare applied in the manner described above with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6of the drawings, a satisfactory surgical glove can be obtained havingrelatively thin wall thickness in the fingers and palm portions and arelatively thick wall thickness in the cuff portion. It has been foundthat since the fingers enter the latex first and are moved last as willbe apparent from FIG. 5, the fingers of the resultant glove are slightlythicker than the wall thickness of the palm portion. A surgical glovewith a wall thickness of 0.0075 inches at the fingers 50, a slightlylesser wall thickness at the palm portion, and a wall thickness of0.0125 inches at the open end of the cuff 50, has been produced using a43% calcium nitrate solution as the concentrated coagulant and an 8.6%calcium nitrate solution as the dilute coagulant for latex adjusted to40% dry rubber content. Such a glove possesses all the required wallthickness characteristics for a surgical glove.

It will be clear from the previous paragraph that having regard to thehigh concentration of the concentrated coagulant, the suggestion ofBritish Pat. No. 1,021,137 referred to above, to remove concentratedcoagulant from the major portion of a former is wasteful:

It will be appreciated that many variations in detail are possiblewithout departing from the scope of the attached claims.

Although the invention is particularly applicable to the production ofsurgical gloves, it is by no means limited to such gloves, but may beused to produce any other type of glove or other thin-walled articleshaving wall sections of different thickness, from latex.

I claim:

1. A method of producing a glove having a cuff portion of greaterthickness than the remaining portion of the glove, said methodcomprising:

a. locating a hand-shaped former with the fingers disposed upwardly,

b. applying concentrated liquid latex coagulant only to the cuff portionof the former with the former so disposed;

c. allowing the concentrated liquid coagulant applied to the cuffportion to dry to a point at which it does not run;

d. inverting the former to finger tips-down position;

e. applying dilute liquid latex coagulant to the hand portion of the'former at least up to the edge of the dried coagulant on the cuffportion;

f. applying liquid latex on the former up to the required length of theglove including the cuff portion so as to form a thicker layer of latexon the cuff portion as compared to the remainder of the glove;

g. curing the latex; and

h. removing the resulting glove from the former.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the concentrated coagulant isapplied by directing at least one stream of concentrated coagulantagainst the cuff portion of the former.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the dilute coagulant isapplied to the hand portion of the former by immersing the formerfingers downwards in a bath of dilute coagulant at least up to the edgeof the concentrated coagulant coating on the cuff portion.

4. A method as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the latex is applied byimmersing the former fingers downwards in a bath of latex up to therequired length of the glove.

5. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein a plurality of formers arelocated in a row with their fingers disposed upwardly in a positionbetween and adjacent the ends of a pair of laterally spaced coagulantconduits; the row of formers and the conduits are moved relatively in alongitudinal direction with respect to the row of formers; and streamsof concentrated coagulant are discharged through outlet nozzles in theconduits from opposite sides onto the cuff portions of successiveformers from one end of the row to the other.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the pair fro movement of theoutlet nozzles past the formers.

1. A method of producing a glove having a cuff portion of greaterthickness than the remaining portion of the glove, said methodcomprising: a. locating a hand-shaped former with the fingers disposedupwardly, b. applying concentrated liquid latex coagulant only to thecuff portion of the former with the former so disposed; c. allowing theconcentrated liquid coagulant applied to the cuff portion to dry to apoint at which it does not run; d. inverting the former to fingertips-down position; e. applying dilute liquid latex coagulant to thehand portion of the former at least up to the edge of the driedcoagulant on the cuff portion; f. applying liquid latex on the former upto the required length of the glove including the cuff portion so as toform a thicker layer of latex on the cuff portion as compared to theremainder of the glove; g. curing the latex; and h. removing theresulting glove from the formEr.
 2. A method as claimed in claim 1,wherein the concentrated coagulant is applied by directing at least onestream of concentrated coagulant against the cuff portion of the former.3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the dilute coagulant isapplied to the hand portion of the former by immersing the formerfingers downwards in a bath of dilute coagulant at least up to the edgeof the concentrated coagulant coating on the cuff portion.
 4. A methodas claimed in claim 1, wherein the latex is applied by immersing theformer fingers downwards in a bath of latex up to the required length ofthe glove.
 5. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein a plurality offormers are located in a row with their fingers disposed upwardly in aposition between and adjacent the ends of a pair of laterally spacedcoagulant conduits; the row of formers and the conduits are movedrelatively in a longitudinal direction with respect to the row offormers; and streams of concentrated coagulant are discharged throughoutlet nozzles in the conduits from opposite sides onto the cuffportions of successive formers from one end of the row to the other. 6.A method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the pair of coagulant conduitsare moved along the row of formers from one end of the row to the otherand back again and the streams of concentrated coagulant are dischargedfrom the outlet nozzles in the conduits onto the cuff portions ofsuccessive formers during to and fro movement of the outlet nozzles pastthe formers.